Water Surprise
by Mariko Midori
Summary: A birthday fic for my favorite character. Happy birthday Makoto! Cover image brought to you by my silly cat Charlie


Makoto hummed to himself as he walked to the general store to pick up a few things for his mother. He thought it was a bit sudden, but thought nothing of it. Today was his birthday so naturally he was in a very good mood, almost matching Nagisa's. Speaking of whom, the orca hadn't seen him, Rei, or even Haru after class. Same with Rin and his buddies that come around from time to time. Pushing those thoughts aside, Makoto continued down his path only to be stopped by two men, one slightly shorter than the other, dressed in black and dark shades. One of them motioned for him to follow, turned around and walked away while the other waited for Makoto to make his move. Seeing as he had no choice, the orca followed the mysterious men.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

The men said nothing. They went down winding alleyways, twists and turns, then finally arriving at a tall dark building. Before Makoto could react, he was shoved harshly from behind and heard the door close. He spun around wishing this was all a joke. His heart pounded in sync with his fists against the metal trapping him from the outside.

"Hey! Can anyone hear me? Hey!" he shouted. "Nagisa! Rei! Rin! Haru! Anyone, help!"

No one heard his cries for help. He tried several more times and received the same unfortunate results. Emerald orbs scanned the area in the hopes of finding a way out. There was none as the building was dark and there was no indication of the door ever being there. How was that even possible? Where was he? Does anyone know he's missing? _Will anyone know?_ _Wait, what am I thinking? Of course they'll find me! Maybe I can call them? _He took out his phone and flipped it open. No signal. That figures.

"Ok, so I guess I need to walk forward?" he asked himself, seeing as he had no choice.

He blindly did so, hoping he was going in the right direction of the exit. Along the way, a spotlight suddenly appeared. It shined on him for a brief moment then it moved to a spot on the wall. In the light was a picture Makoto hadn't seen in a long time. It was the day he first met his siblings, Ren and Ran. He remembered that day quite well as he recalled proclaiming himself as the best big brother in the world. He smiled at the memory. He took the picture off the wall and turned right. As soon as he did so, the light from earlier flashed in his face before going left. _Is it showing me the way out?_ he thought. Deciding to go with the light, the orca walked on the brightly lit path. Along the way he found several more pictures of more milestones in his life: his first birthday as a big brother, first day of school (which he was scared of going), first swimming competition with Haru, and many others.

Makoto knew Haru was a big part of his life, but he didn't realize how important the dolphin was until now. Haru was in a majority of these pictures after the family ones. Then Makoto came upon a picture he knew all too well. It was the first and last relay he did with Haru, Nagisa and Rin before Rin moved to Australia. All of them were so happy about winning the race. The next one he stumbled on was one from the training camp from hell. It showed him talking to Haru, Nagisa and Rei about the training regimen they were about to start to work on their stamina. That part went well, but the rest of it not so much.

The light flashed in his face three times then disappeared. Makoto blinked the spots from his eyes to meet darkness once more. Just before he could wonder what was going on, a black light popped up and revealed neon purple, green, blue, pink and red pain splatters on the wall. Behind those spot were more lights, only this time matching colors. Now the entire area is one big party room. Finally understanding what this whole thing is, Makoto followed the neon lights as he made way to the exit while finding more pictures. One of them was the relay race Rei let Rin participate in his place. It resembled the younger version, but with Rei awkwardly standing off to the side, smiling and holding the peace sign.

The last two pictures nearly brought tears to his eyes. They were the national's picture, where they placed 6th, and the last one was of an orca, a dolphin, a butterfly, a penguin and a shark. On the back it said, 'Iwatobi Forever!' As he approached the exit, the final picture was revealed. It took Makoto a bit to focus on it as the exit was blinding him. He stepped closer to it to get a better look. _This is my graduation photo! Why is it here with the others?_ Shrugging, he stepped into the light and was met with a sight of streamers and balloons flying in his face. Before him stood his parents, Ren, Ran, Haru, Nagisa, Rei, Rin, Gou, Coach Sasabe and Amakata-sensei.

"Happy birthday, Makoto!" they yelled in unison, clapping their hands.

Makoto was speechless. "You guys did all of this, just for me?"

"Of course we did, Mako-chan!" Nagisa chirped. "We wanted to make it memorable."

Ren and Ran rushed to their brother and glomped him. "We missed you, Nii-san!"

"I missed you too. Have you two behaved yourselves for mother and father while I was gone?"

The twins nodded vigorously, giving their older brother the hint they hadn't at times. They were known to be loud, very loud.

The celebration was definitely one to remember for everyone. The food was all of Makoto's favorites, courtesy of his mother and Haru. Nagisa and the twins came up with the games which included a piñata, at the twins' request. The piñata was in the shape of an orca filled with water balloons by Rin and Nitori. The first person/victim up is the birthday orca himself. He barely touched it with the foam bat as his height and dizziness fought against him. Haru managed to get a good whack on it unlike Rei who ended up falling into the pool thanks to Nagisa spinning him too many times. Just as Rin was about to take his turn, Sousuke and Momo showed up.

"Oi, Momo. Do you want a whack at this?" Rin asked, smirking internally.

"Of course!" Momo exclaimed. "I'll show you the strength of the Mikoshiba family!"

He took the bat and waited to be blindfolded. After being spun three times, he took a nice big swing and _wham!_ The piñata cracked on impact and split open, revealing the hidden contents. The water balloons fell out and completely soaked the otter to the bone. However, there was one more element yet to be seen. Momo felt a sudden chill down his spine and it wasn't from the water.

"GYAAHH!" he screeched. He wriggled and jumped around in an attempt to get out whatever was sliding down his back. His hand caught the offending object. It was an ice cube. "Who put ice in here?! Oh, god! There's more in my pants!"

Rin and Nitori didn't even try to hold in their laughter. They were practically rolling on the floor along with everyone else. After that hilarious scene, or humiliating scene in Momo's case, it was time for cake and presents. When Makoto blew out the candles, one refused to be blown out.

"Hey, Mako-chan! Doesn't that mean you're going to get girlfriend in the future?" Nagisa asked.

"That's only a superstition, Nagisa-kun," Rei pointed out, pushing his glasses up.

"It could be true!"

Makoto blushed slightly. "I don't think that is going to happen any time soon."

"I still believe it will happen," the blonde pouted.

The time to open the presents finally arrived. Makoto ended up with a whole array of them, ranging from swim coaching books from Rei to a giant orca plushie from Nagisa. His parents got him some organization boxes to help store Makoto's things. Rin gave him an iTunes giftcard, saying that music helps when you're studying. When it was Haru's turn, he said he'd give Makoto his present later. Rin suddenly got an idea.

"I know this isn't part of the festivities, but how about a reunion race? Iwatobi vs Samezuka, one for the record books."

Nagisa shot his hand up. "I'm in!"

Rei pushed his glasses up while grinning. "I never thought you would ask."

Sousuke shrugged. "That's fine by me."

Momo and Nitori instantly agreed and Makoto chuckled. "Well, I guess I get to see you lose, Rin."

"Alright! Let's get this race started!" Coach Sasabe declared.

A few moments later, the boys were lined up in their lanes. Makoto and Momo dropped into the pool and got in their starting positions. Goro blew his whistle three times.

"Ready?"

The two tensed their bodies, their faces locked with determination.

"Go!"

Their backs arched in perfect synchronization as they pushed themselves away from the starting block. The race was off to a great start as the backstroke swimmers remained in a deadlock until Makoto pulled slightly ahead after the turn. He touched the wall just before Momo as Nagisa jumped in, followed closely by Nitori. The duck ended up barely beating the penguin and the showdown between Sousuke and Rei started. Sousuke was surprised that his shoulder didn't hurt at all during this leg, no small pains or anything. Perhaps all of his physical therapy was paying off. Rei had improved significantly from the last time Haru and Makoto saw him. Then the ultimate showdown began: Haru vs Rin. Haru had a small lead going into the turn, but Rin quickly caught up to him. Their fierce neck to neck race was very intense. Then all too soon it ended with a difference of .01 seconds.

"The winner of this race is…Iwatobi!" Sasabe declared.

Haru pulled his cap off and flicked his hair back and forth. He looked up to see Makoto holding his hand out.

"Nice job, Haru-chan," he said, smiling.

Haru sighed. "I told you to drop the 'chan'," he replied, grabbing the orca's hand and pulled himself out of the water.

"Man, you eight haven't lost your touch after all this time," Goro commented.

"It was just as beautiful as before," Amakata added.

"Your muscles are just as perfect as before," Gou squealed. "Delicious!"

Rin rolled his eyes at his sister. _She's never going to get a boyfriend if she keeps that up._

Makoto looked around at all of the people who celebrated this special day with him and smiled. "Minna, arigato."

~Time skip~

Makoto and Haru stood outside of the pool watching the sunset. The waves gently crashed against coastline. Haru broke the silence.

"Makoto," he said, holding out a small box. "My present."

Makoto blinked and took the box. He gasped upon opening it. Inside was a small, hand painted wooden orca with a key ring attached to the dorsal fin.

"Haru, did you make this?"

Haru blushed a little and turned away. "I thought you would like something with more importance."

It took a moment for those words to sink in, but Makoto understood what Haru meant. He smiled.

"Thank you, Haru."


End file.
